Running From the Law

When I heard that three lawyer/ultrarunner friends of mine had all quit their law jobs to fully pursue their running endeavors, I wondered if it was some sort of epidemic. It hit me somewhat more severely than most because I’m a “full time” lawyer who is often asked if I still practice. Lawyers often lack balance and the burn-out rate is extremely high. I’d venture to guess that less than half of my graduating law school class still practices, just over twenty years into the profession.

Fortunately, I work in a very tolerant law firm in Boulder, Colorado, Hutchinson, Black and Cook, hbcboulder.com, and it allows me a lot of flexibility, as long as my clients are happy. When I’m in town I normally get in a morning run and start work a little after 8am, but I stay past 9pm with a long break for a second run or to hit the gym in the afternoon. During my time in the office I am often tied up with running-related projects so I am lucky to bill a third or half my time in the office. I also feel good about my practice, representing businesses against taxing authorities, mostly at the state and local level. It is intellectually engaging and I sleep well at night, in part due to the hours of training.

It is all about maintaining balance but that isn’t always easy to find when most standard law jobs require 50-70-hour work weeks and the pressure is extreme. Like many professions, being a lawyer doesn’t just define your work, it defines your person. And it can and will suck the life out of those who let it.

That is why I applaud the moves on the part of Adam Campbell, Matt Flaherty, and Mike Wolfe. All are stand-out ultrarunners who were just starting out in their legal careers and, within weeks of one another, jumped ship to go for it as runners. You don’t get many chances in life unless you take them and these guys followed their hearts and, fortunately for us, were willing to share their thinking that lead to their respective decisions. I also asked my friend Bryon Powell to weigh in on the subject. Bryon just celebrated his third year away from practicing law, having left it to engage in his web site, iRunFar.com, full-time.

This four-part series features the answers to each of these lawyer refugees:

Adam Campbell practiced labor and employment law for a British Columbian law firm for the past year. In 2007 he ran his first trail race and qualified for the Canadian Mountain Running team in the process. He is sponsored by both Arc'Teryx and Salomon, is on Salomon’s International Trail Running Team and has decided to leave the law to give running his full attention.

Adam: I'm still at work for two weeks, but have decided not to renew my associate contract with the firm I'm at. There are a number of reasons for my choice, some of which come from a complicated relationship with the practice of law and others with me being new to the profession.

The main reason for my decision is that I absolutely hate compromising and recently I have felt that I've been compromising on both my running and my work. I have been living a crazy schedule the past 1.5 years, running before and after work, putting in 20-30 hours of running, while working 50 plus hours. I've been managing it fine but it's not something that I can keep up over the long term. Unfortunately, I have to put in that sort of volume to be at my best as a runner and I've had to compromise a few too many run sessions, doing them while exhausted and very late, or very early in the morning. I still think I have some room to grow as an athlete and I feel like I owe it to myself to give it a go while I can.

My wife, Lauren Campbell, is a professional triathlete and has been away at training camps a lot, so the schedule is fine when she's not in the picture, but I would feel incredibly selfish training and working that much with her around, which will likely happen come September, so I need another solution. I have the option of moving to a smaller firm and working on a different commission status, where I just get paid 50% of any work that I bill, so that is something that I'm considering. It's in a different area of law, with a heavy emphasis on mediation, but they are very flexible. The only issue with that offer is that it's not in an ideal location for where I want to live, so I'm researching other options with a similar work balance, but they aren't often advertised.

Secondly, although I enjoyed the study of law and I quite like my colleagues, I really don't like the practice of law, or the area that I'm in, all that much. It's a very corporate environment and I've found my work at odds with my values quite a bit recently, which I've had a hard time coming to terms with, so walking away from my current job wasn't all that hard. I am looking for ways to apply my law degree and keep developing my legal skill, in a more flexible environment. The decision is also a bit easier for me, in that I come from a long line of successful, non-practicing lawyers.

My grandfather was in the foreign service and then continued on as the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, before going into business, and my dad used his law degree in business as well, so I've seen the doors that a law degree can open outside of the legal profession. I also hang with a crowd of full-time athletes, many of whom live very fulfilled and successful lives, so I have good mentors about how they've been successful athletically and how to cash in on it as well. Although I'm far from rolling in it and can't support myself from my sponsorship alone, I do have financial support from a few of my sponsors, so I have a bit of wiggle room. I'm also trying to apply my legal skills to help some of my sponsors and to do a bit of contract work for them on the side.

Finally, I have almost no student debt, having worked hard to pay it off, and I don't have any children yet, so that affords me the luxury of not being beholden to crazy monthly payments or wild expenses. I also don't have any real savings, so maybe it would be smarter in the long run to be banking some money now, but it's a decision I think I can live with later.

There are many other small decisions that add up as well, but I guess these are the main ones. I realize that I'm probably going to have to work even harder than before to make all of my small contracts and part-time jobs work and that it is bound to be stressful in a different way, but I guess that being in control myself is what is most appealing about it.

This is a very difficult decision and one that I wrestled with for a long time before making.

Matt Flaherty

Matt Flaherty was in the litigation group at Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago, where he focused his practice on patent litigation. He left at the end of February. His highlights in this past year include winning the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge in Chicago in a sprint finish (May 2011), running 2:22:53 at Grandma's Marathon and The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile (Wisconsin Regional) in an event record, followed a week later by a third place finish at the Trail Runner Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100k (September 2011). And he doesn’t just run long, placing 17th place at the U.S. Cross Country Championships (February 2012). Flaherty is a member of Team Salomon USA.

Matt: For me, I don't know if there's anything that necessarily connects being a lawyer and running ultras, specifically. I will say that I see myself as disciplined, meticulous, and hard-working when it comes to my running, as well as being quite goal-oriented. I feel these qualities contribute largely to the successes I've had in running, especially in the ultra realm (with the caveat that I'm really just getting started with the latter). Surely, some of the same qualities have allowed success—at least as externally defined ("good" law school /grades /firm job)—in the legal world as well.

More to the point of your question though, why I have left the law for the trails— the hours and uncertainties of my job were simply becoming incompatible with my ambitions as a runner. I have tried to be a dedicated runner to the best of my ability while working as an attorney at a large law firm. But quite simply, this isn't good enough if I want to be the best runner I can be. There isn't enough time in the day to work that job, and also train and properly recover—at least not at the level I need to in order to maximize my potential. I had a good 2011 that saw me run personal bests at multiple distances, win some competitive races (both ultras and shorter races), and acquire sponsorships; but it was also my lowest mileage year since high school.

Continued progress would likely be pretty incremental and unsubstantial from here without a change. There's simply a limit to what you can achieve on 60 or 70 miles a week, especially if your goal races include some ultra marathons. So you shift your priorities. Running becomes number one, the career gets put on hold, and you find a way to take your shot. I'll work in a coffee shop, bar, running store, perhaps even temporary legal work, whatever I need to do beyond running to make ends meet; but with my running being the absolute priority. Hopefully sponsorships and prize money can make up an increasingly large portion of my income as I improve. I firmly believe that I'm on the verge of some big things, on both the roads and trails; I just need the time to train. This decision will also allow me to relocate away from Chicago to a place where I can better train—where hills exist; where there are technical trails, altitude.

As for the timing of my decision, I'm still plenty young to pursue my peak in the sport, yet I've worked long enough to have some quality professional experience for if/when I return to the law. I think it is certainly a possibility that if things go well in my running career, I might be involved in the sport long enough that I end up working in it in some capacity (e.g., coaching or writing). That would be the non-returning-to-law scenario. It is perhaps just as likely, if not more so, that I will eventually return to the legal field. I certainly do enjoy aspects of the law. I could see myself working in some sort of IP advisory role in the future. I've also strongly considered legal academia. I think about possibly getting a Masters in Economics and an LLM from a European institution (there is a program in Lausanne, Switzerland of which I am particularly fond). My research interests are, most strongly, International IP and Law & Economics, so these degrees make the most sense. I think that is the likely end-game if the law is to win out.

I’m well aware that to many people, my decision may seem a little nuts. I gave up a well-paying, secure job to make close to no money even if things go well. But then— this isn't about money, and I don't have to answer to those people anyway. I have utter belief in myself and my ability to reach my goals, and that's enough.

I can only speculate of course at others' reasons for similar decisions, but surely we are all fueled in part by a desire to follow our passions and dreams as earnestly and fully as possible. As you well know, trail and ultra running is getting to a point that, if you are good enough, you can eek out an existence, however meager. And if the vision is strong enough, you make the jump. Adam Campbell and Mike Wolfe are both terrific runners; I'm sure they want to "see what they can do" as well.

Jordi Saragossa/Courtesy of Matterhorn Ultraks

Mike Wolfe was an Assistant U.S. Attorney, for the U.S. Attorneys Office, District of Montana, where he prosecuted major drug crimes and violent crimes on Montana's Indian reservations. He runs for The North Face and his highlights for 2011 included a second place finish at the Western States 100, winning the TNF 50-mile Endurance Challenge Championship in December, and he is quite proud of his recent accomplishment of running four laps on “the Altar” with Mike Foote in the Bridger Mountains, outside of Bozeman (each lap is 10 miles, with 5,000 gain, 5,000 loss).

Mike: The decision to quit my budding legal career (I practiced for 3 years out of law school) was basically inspired by the "now-or-never, follow-your-dreams" feeling in my gut.

I had a hard time with the decision. I really liked my job, and felt like I was just getting to the point where I was more comfortable with it, and where I was headed with my career (I was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana. I prosecuted major drug crimes and violent crimes on Montana's Indian reservations). But, as they say, we are only young once, and this opportunity to pursue running with all my energy and focus is finite, and here now.

It is brutally difficult to work a demanding full-time lawyering gig, with my schedule being dictated by the whims of federal judges, and fit in the second full-time job of training for ultra racing. Hard to do both is an understatement. I am lucky that I have amazing sponsor support right now, and I feel like my running is to a point where I owe it to myself to put all my energy and focus into, to see what more, if anything, I'm capable of. Ultimately, I have a few more good years at my peak performance, so I want to make a serious go at it. I can work when I'm an old cripple! Follow your dreams, take the risk, heed the fear, but go for it, eh?!

I finished my job the last week of April, then went straight into a 3 week trip to Spain for Transvulcania and Zegama, so the new "routine" hasn't really sunk in yet.....we'll see how it feels to have spare time.....it already seems a little weird. But, certainly good for me, and refreshing, given the manic lifestyles the typical American leads.

And, honestly, to pay the bills, I plan on hanging my own shingle, so to speak. I will be picking up contract work from some local law firms, here and there, to help pay the bills.
Three top ultrarunners recently changed their relationship with the practice of law from “engaged” or even “married” to “single” or “it’s complicated” while another did so three years ago. As an ultrarunning lawyer who rarely enters a courtroom, I thought I’d hone my unused examination skills by asking each of my fellow members of the bar what prompted their departure, whether it was just temporary and, if so, how long they thought it might last.

Bryon had been practicing in the D.C./Virginia area and now lives in Park City, Utah. He’s maintained his “inactive” status so that returning to a law job remains an option, although not a likely one.

Bryon: I think leaving the law was equal parts love and hate. To be honest, law was a career that I fell into after not having another outlet after my liberal arts education. Or, to clarify, no particular passion calling me after said education. Being a legal assistant wasn't stimulating enough, so I tried the whole law school/attorney thing. My specialty was about as ideally suited for me as possible. Still, the uncertainty of absolute correctness in my work created heaps of undue stress. I had no personal satisfaction to balance that out. Even if I was working on a project that would improve the lives of many, and such projects did happen, my role was far too removed and my knowledge of the eventual outcome of my work so non-existent that my work couldn't be its own reward. As I was never in it for the money, the gobs of money being thrown at me didn't cut it. Nebulous plans of finding an in-house job in Utah (and, particularly, Park City) and early retirement weren't enough either.

On the other hand, when I stopped practicing, I'd loved running for the better part of two decades. I'd had iRunFar around and, for a little while, saw it as a way to build connections so I could move into the outdoor/running industries. A perfect storm in my personal world - particular work stress, someone coming to me for coaching, iRunFar growing, meeting Meghan Hicks (my girldfriend), and the headspace gained from running the Marathon des Sables - led to me taking the leap. Admittedly, it was (and is) great having the safety net of two bar memberships. If things didn't work out in iRunFar's first two years, I could go back.

That said, never have, nor do I now desire to go back to legal practice. For the past three years I've happily spent many more hours per week working on iRunFar than I ever did at a law firm. I don't know if I've found my calling, but I'm not really worried about that. I love what I do right now. Perhaps, something else will call me in the future. If so, so be it. For now, I enjoy what I do and have zero regrets about leaving the law... other than wishing I'd done it earlier.

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